I have been floating around this forum for a good couple of years but never registered until today. I am currently driving a BMW 118d which I have owned from new for the last 4 years but I am now starting to think about its replacement. I have been thoroughly impressed with the 118d and over its life it has averaged 62mpg which has been extremely impressive. I am considering either a X1 M Sport XDrive 20d or a 3 series (chiefly the 318d / 320d). I was fortunate enough last month to have been given an X1 as a courtesy car from my local dealer and I was very impressed overall but somewhat saddened by the 43mpg over 200+ miles.

Based on this I have started to reconsider my dream car, a 335d!

As I know and have enjoyed reading many members posts about this car I was wondering if I could ask for some assistance, I job entails a 24x7 shift pattern and as such I now never get caught up in traffic jams or drive in cities / busy towns, I have a 55 mile commute to the office of which 90% is on a dual carriageway 10% twisty lanes. When I stick to 60mph and cruise to work my 118d it will return high 60ís over a tank thus from those members who have had this car and know itís capabilities and given this type of drive I will be doing what would be my real world MPG?

Ideally, I would like to average at least 42mpg Ė is this living in dreamland? When a car is spent 90% on the motorway cruising encountering no traffic? Obviously, regular use of the loud peddle will send the figures down but apart from a few roundabouts here and there, slip roads etc. the majority of the time will be spent at 60 Ė 70mph.

Thanks in advance

Ian

Getting back to the point Ian I would say that there was little or no chance that you will return 42mpg from the 335d. Whilst in theory it may be possible, having the ability to do what the 335d can, you would be tempted too often like the rest of us and the figure would probably be around 30-35 at BEST.
I haven't driven a 320d ED yet and don't claim to know much about cars but I think that would be a good option. Either that, and I may be booted from the forum for saying this, get an IS220d........

Thanks everyone for your comments so far, I greatly appreciate them all. Like every MPG topic you always get a massive variation in peoples averages and it is extremely clear that the 335d in a urban environment is an extremely thirsty beast but can deliver good efficiency when cruising. For me the 335d would be an extravagance, I most certainly donít need one and an 18d would suffice giving my commute and driving type. However, you only live once and if I was ever going to have such a car now is the time, when I have no major outlays for at least another 2 years. I think the best compromise would be a 330d with a manual box (but finding a good AUC under 1 year with the specs I want is impossible).

In order to provide a better comparison between my short listed cars, here are the 4 I was considering:

I will be buying with cash and unfortunately donít get any allowances from my company but then that also means I am not restricted . I should also point out that I also own a Ford Focus which Iíve had from New and is now 7 years old, the plan has always been to keep it and run it into the ground, I put about 10,000 miles on each car per year so Iím already accustomed to getting low 30ís in the Focus and itís just nice to have another car capable of high 60ís.

One of the restrictions I have found with the 118d is that I have a bit of OCD in that I have to attain over 60mpg on each tank, I think this stems from the time when I bought the car, then I was putting 25k on it a year and purchased it simply for the economy otherwise I think I would have ended up in a 123d. I have now cut my annual mileage by about 50% but still have this OCD when driving my 118d but when I am back in the Focus I simply drive it and enjoy the miles much more simply by accepting it gets what it gets.

I have been speaking to my dealer today and they are trying to source a 335d for me to sample alongside the 330d they have.

Have you taken these cars out and tried them with your driving route??

Just that the 118d is set up for sitting at 60mph, and if you like to sit at 80mph the 320d will trounce it economy wise.

Same with a 335d vs a manual 330d, more than the power or fact one is an auto it is the gearing, the 330d has a 2.35 final drive ratio where as the 335d has 2.81.
Sit at 80mph in the 330d and you are doing 50mpg, sit at the same speed in the 335d and it is revving 25% higher and only doing 40mpg.

Do you need the AWD of the X1? the RWD version is more fun, and I actually prefer the overall package to the 3 series, the 20d sDrive will return you over 45mpg, but most are only getting around 38ish from the AWD.

I get 44mpg from a 18d sDrive, but can easily see 49mpg doing the same runs in a 20d sDrive auto, better gearing for my type of driving.

Definitely take them out though, as you may be shocked at the results.

On a long run I get about the same from my Brabus tuned E320cdi estate auto as I do my X1 18d sDrive, around 40mpg vs 44mpg, however the average is 34mpg vs 44mpg.
Round town the X1 may drop to 38ish where as the E320cdi can be 25.

Just get a 335i it would take you 10 years to pay back the price difference between it and a 335d. I get 32mpg average out of my lci manual (currently 420bhp), tax cost the same and it's cheaper to insure! For that sort of money there are some awesome nearly new dct 335i's - they are giving them away!

This car was rapid before but it is an absolute animal now!!!!!!!!!! Loving the extra power!!!

On my run up the motorway today did see some gains in mpg too

OP, do yourself a favour, get a 335d and remap it. Best thing you will EVER do (unless you get an M3). Or you could go for a 330d remap it to a 335d standard power and be pissed off when a remapped 335d bums you

This car was rapid before but it is an absolute animal now!!!!!!!!!! Loving the extra power!!!

On my run up the motorway today did see some gains in mpg too

OP, do yourself a favour, get a 335d and remap it. Best thing you will EVER do (unless you get an M3). Or you could go for a 330d remap it to a 335d standard power and be pissed off when a remapped 335d bums you

I have a real problem believing the increases in reported increases in fuel economy following a remap. How does it happen? If it was that easy, why don't car manufacturers do it themselves?

Just because your trip computer tells you that your fuel economy has improved, does not mean it has improved. There is no reason why a remap will change the way fuel consumption is measured by the trip computer. If you inject more fuel into the cylinder - which is how remaps usually work - why do you think the computer will know that more fuel is being injected?

I do believe remaps can give you more power. Delivering more power is easy, you just need to burn more fuel.

Nobody outside of BMW knows how the trip computer measures fuel consumption. But it is safe to assume it is NOT by measuring the fuel level in the tank. There rate that fuel comes out of the tank is far too slow to measure instantaneous fuel consumption, which the Beemer does. Also variables like centrifugal forces going around a corner and fuel sloshing to the side of the mean measuring fuel level in the tank is a non-starter for the trip computer. However filling your tank up to full and calculating fuel consumption from volume of fuel added and distance travelled is a great way for you to measure fuel consumption yourself.

The car trip computer probably measures fuel consumption by fuel injection pressure and length of the injection pulse. When you remap, you mess with the length of the injection pulse. There is no reason to think that the car trip computer knows the car has been remapped, so it may be calculating fuel consumption based on pre-remap parameters which are now no longer valid.

In short, any claimed change in fuel consumption following a remap needs to be proved by comparing distance travelled divided by fuel added for several fill-ups before and after the remap.

.... I think the best compromise would be a 330d with a manual box (but finding a good AUC under 1 year with the specs I want is impossible). .........

These are my thoughts exactly - this is why I choose to buy a brand new 330d manual as there arnt many LCI manual's about 2nd hand.
The 330d is not the fastest 3 series - or the most economical, but I think it offers the best blend of performance and fuel ecomomy of nearly any car money can buy today.
It is a superb power unit (the LCI 245PS) and gets the fuel ecomomy that 2.0L diesel's 6-7 years ago would have been happy with.

Will be very interesting to see what happens with 6 cylinder diesels in the new F30. They surely must ditch the old 335d unit that is currently in the E9x. If so, the new engine will undoubtly be far more ecomonical and hopefully more powerful like the F10 5 series. If this will be the case, then this engine will definatley upstage the 245PS 330d and will be the one to get - but will be damn expensive, if the F10 prices are anything to go by.